blacktailslayer Posted January 28, 2009 Report Share Posted January 28, 2009 Thought I would post a great website for those that are interested in seeing the types of soils they hunt on or would like to hunt in the future. This may be new for blacktail and mule deer hunters, but the whitetail hunters have made up maps correlating soil types and antlers grow/size. I'm not sure what would be the best types of soil for antler growth/size here in Oregon. I would like to do some research on that. Maybe someone on here might know. 1. Click on website. 2. Zoom in close to area you wish to know soil type. 3. Click on box that has a red square and will say "AOI". 4. Drag square to cover area you wish to know soil type. That is it. Good luck and have fun. They constantly do updates on the website; so you may not be able to get on all the time. http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/WebSoilSurvey.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted January 28, 2009 Report Share Posted January 28, 2009 Some pretty cool mapping features on that site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted January 28, 2009 Report Share Posted January 28, 2009 That's pretty cool. Apparently Bennington silt loam grows decent antlers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blacktailslayer Posted January 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2009 http://www.state.tn.us/twra/pdfs/deerantlers.pdf Here is a link that talks about how soils are just as important as age and genetics for antler size. I will try and do more research to find the best quality soils; other than the couple that they listed in the article. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blacktailslayer Posted January 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 While doing steps 1-4 you are on the tab that says "Area of Interest AOI" up above. Step 5: Click on the tab "Soil Map" and then the soil types should pop up. I am currently trying to talk with some soil scientist that deal with forests, vegetation, and such. I will let everyone know what information I find later on. This all may lead to easy scouting from home. If a person is interested in finding a new area to hunt or would like to know where the best piece of private property to hunt or lease; this may be the way to go. High nutrient rich food for deer should allow them to reach their genetic potential, while area of poor soil, nutrients, vegetation quality will have deer that don't reach their genetic potential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blacktailslayer Posted January 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 I thought it might just help in determining potential spots. This in no way would be a 100% guarantee big buck hunting area method. Hard on the ground scouting and time will tell a person that. I would like to see what peoples ratings are with cation, organic matter, and such ratings in their big buck areas and small buck areas. No one would have to give locations, but just soil data and if big body/antler bucks are found or small body/antler bucks. It would be pretty interesting to see what everyone gets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted January 30, 2009 Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 I think this could help a lot of guys in areas where there are vast areas of public land, or their own lease/land. In the case of Ohio though, a lot of guys (me included) are at the whim of the landowner, and most deer are going to wander between a ton of landowners. You may identify great soil, and maybe even get lucky to see a great deer, but if you don't have access to that land there's not much you can do. You have to remember too, soil is just one piece of the puzzle, and probably a very small piece. It identifies the potential to grow nutritious forage, but if that forage isn't there, what can you do? I guess I'm sounding pessimistic, that's not my intent. This is a great tool in our arsenal to maybe find a good buck. I know I'm very lucky to live in the area that I do. We have pretty good genetics in this area. The last 2 bucks I've shot weighed 227# and 220# respectively. I took pictures of these 2 deer on my property in 2005. This deer was standing guard over a hot doe. I guessed him to be a 1.5, maybe a 2.5 year old. I don't know how much he weighed, but I'd guess him to be around 200 on the hoof. This deer is probably the biggest deer I've seen on my property. He was an absolute truck. Easily 250 on the hoof. Look at how blocky his back, rump and shoulders are. Note the Roman nose too. I think he would have scored well too. This is my heaviest deer. He dressed at 227 lbs. I shot this deer about 5 miles from where I live. I guess he was probably 2 or 3. This one weighed 220 lbs. and grossed 153 So, like I said, I'm lucky to live in an area where the genetics are here along with the nutrition. The one component that is really tough to control is age. A lot of guys around me will shoot the first buck they see, but the terrain is such that some bucks get to mature because they are pretty tough to hunt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PotashRLS Posted January 30, 2009 Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 Awesome Post! There have been articles fairly recently talking about "Its in the Soil". Thats why so many of the river basins in the midwest are such huge producers! Fertile ground and water..........gold mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted January 30, 2009 Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 http://www.state.tn.us/twra/pdfs/deerantlers.pdf Here is a link that talks about how soils are just as important as age and genetics for antler size. I will try and do more research to find the best quality soils; other than the couple that they listed in the article. We have ag crops all around us, good indication according to the article that the soil should be good for growing antlers, makes good sense. The winding river bottom behind us provides some decent cover. We should have all the key elements we need for quality deer in regards to nutrition and habitat, but due to the extreme pressure and number of hunters concentrated to this little area on top of us, the deer just do not get the age on them that they need, and unfortunately I think the genetics are on a downhill slide here too. We used to see 1.5 year old 7 and 8 pointers, now(past 2 years or so) those are far and few between, seems we are seeing a lot more funky racked bucks at 1.5 and 2.5, and I have not seen a deer with more than 8 points since the 2006 season. btw, this thread might be better suited in the land and wildlife management room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted January 30, 2009 Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 We have ag crops all around us, good indication according to the article that the soil should be good for growing antlers, makes good sense. The winding river bottom behind us provides some decent cover. We should have all the key elements we need for quality deer in regards to nutrition and habitat, You guys aren't dealing with the borealis subspecies either are you? Seems to me, you guys are probably virginianus? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted January 30, 2009 Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 You guys aren't dealing with the borealis subspecies either are you? Seems to me, you guys are probably virginianus? Borealis are the big boys Chris, one of the largest subspecies. We actually have a mix here. According to some of what I have read we should have the virginia subspecies, but Tennessee in their reintroduction efforts used deer from all over the country. So you could say we have mutts, they are not really one true subspecies. That is why a 200+ lb body sized deer here is a good sized deer. I have seen deer at what I aged at 3.5 go over 200 lbs live weight, but that is not the norm in my experience. These deer do have pretty good nutrition, more typical for 3.5 year old bucks to go between 175-200 lbs. With the cover and nutrition here if we had a pure borealis or dakota subspecies and we could get any age on them, we could have some absolute monsters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted January 30, 2009 Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 Here is an interesting article/link to the restoration of deer in TN Chris. Where did the deer come from… Where did the agencies obtain these deer for release, well that's a good question that I have often wondered and if you ask a group of deer hunters sitting around a campfire on cool fall evening, you will get plenty of answers. Many a hunter has the answer! Truth be known however, at the outset of this restoration project, the majority of the deer came from out of state sources. Most came from the states of Maryland, Michigan, and Wisconsin, while there were also a few deer imported from Texas, Virginia, Oklahoma and North Carolina that were released into what has become our present day Tennessee deer population. These early releases of out of state deer were onto several Wildlife Management Areas where they were bred, trapped, and relocated to other areas of the state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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